LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER

Websites join July 4 protest against surveillance

(Reuters) The online community rallied on Thursday in support of live protests against the U.S. government’s surveillance of internet activity, a practice recently exposed by a former contractor for the National Security Agency.

Websites such as Reddit and Mozilla supported a campaign in cities across the United States to “Restore the Fourth” – a reference to the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against unlawful search and seizure.

The home page of the website Boing Boing, for example, displayed the following message to the NSA: “Happy 4th of July! Immediately stop your unconstitutional spying on the world’s internet users — The People.”